Friday 6 January 2012 13.01 EST
First published on Friday 6 January 2012 13.01 EST

The World Boxing Association vice-president, Gilberto Jesús Mendoza, believes there should be a direct rematch between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson as questions grow around the presence of a mystery man at the judging table during last month's controversial fight.

Khan has accused the man, who the WBA say is unknown to them, of interfering with the judges' scorecards during the fight in Washington and Mendoza thinks there should be a rerun of the light welterweight contest in the interests of "fairness".

The Washington DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission also say they have no idea who the man is, while the International Boxing Federation, who co-sanctioned the fight, had no official comment to make ahead of an IBF hearing on 18 January.

Mendoza said: "There should be a direct rematch of this fight. You have to guarantee fairness, you have to guarantee that no one who isn't directly involved can sit at the table."

A man in a black hat and a blue suit can be seen passing slips of paper to the WBA fight supervisor, Michael Welsh, and as yet no one has been able to confirm his identity.

Mendoza laid the blame for the uncertainty at the door of the local commission. "There was not the proper security in the arena, especially in the ringside zone where the commission sits," he said. "The commission did not behave properly in this fight in seeking the fairness that needed to be [there]."

The IBF's public relations director, Jeanette Salazar, said: "At this point in time we have been advised by our lawyers not to speak out in order to keep the integrity of the [IBF] hearing which is scheduled on 18 January."

Khan lost his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles on a split decision against Peterson in the American's home town, on 10 December. The 25-year-old has questioned several issues surrounding the fight – from the referee Joe Cooper's performance to alleged inconsistencies with the judges' scorecards. Khan's appeal against the defeat will be held later this month but on Thursday he used Twitter to send out a number of images of the fight in Washington and the mystery man.

Mendoza confirmed that the WBA is investigating Khan's comments and said the man shown in the images was not known by the governing body. "I am going over the facts but this man is also unknown to us," he said. He is also reported to have said that the mystery man claimed to be "an IBF official".

Although Khan has been vociferous in his criticism of the decision that cost him his titles, he says that he wants a rematch with Peterson more than having the result of the fight changed.

"That's what we want," said Khan. "I've asked for the rematch and I'm not getting an answer back from Lamont Peterson's team. That's the reason I went on Twitter and I put the tweets up. I just want another chance somewhere neutral just to prove to my fans that I am the real champion and I won the fight."

Peterson's trainer and manager, Barry Hunter, was reluctant to discuss the latest developments, but was saddened that the controversy surrounding the fight had taken away from his boxer's achievement.

He would not commit to a rematch and criticised the Khan camp for making excuses. "Before this guy, this mystery man, it [the defeat for Khan] was about the referee, it was about the judges, what next?" he said. "My thing is we need to get back to boxing. We have to step back and see what's best for Lamont and what's best for his future as champion."

Khan's business manager, Asif Vali, said the Englishman's team have asked for explanations from the various governing bodies relating to a number of their concerns but have yet to receive answers.

"There are four or five different things that require answers and my job is to ensure we get those answers," he said.

"I want to know the reason this person sat there and what's going on. We did the table plan with Golden Boy Promotions and the WBA official was already in his seat and the IBF official was already in his seat, so who is this person? What's he doing talking to the WBA? Why is he handling the slips?

"These are legitimate questions and if they give us sufficient reasons for it then I'll accept it. I want to see what the reasons are.

"We're not saying there is foul play involved in any way, shape or form. I just need the answers for the sequence of events that have taken place. Nothing else. I'm not accusing any of the bodies. Lamont Peterson is the champion and good luck to him for 2012. My job is to get these answers."